公开(公告)号：US5802420A

公开(公告)日：1998-09-01

申请号：US854606

申请日：1997-05-12

申请人： Charles Michael Garr ,  Nathan Karl Klemperer ,  Patricia Ann Valenti ,  Earl Dawson Ward, II ,  James Francis Webb ,  Phillip Byron Wright

发明人： Charles Michael Garr ,  Nathan Karl Klemperer ,  Patricia Ann Valenti ,  Earl Dawson Ward, II ,  James Francis Webb ,  Phillip Byron Wright

IPC分类号： B41J2/175 ,  B41J2/44 ,  B41J29/38 ,  G03G15/00 ,  G03G15/08 ,  G03G21/00

CPC分类号： G03G15/556 ,  B41J2/17566 ,  G03G15/0856 ,  G03G15/5079 ,  B41J2002/17589 ,  G03G15/553

摘要： An improved printer is provided that predicts how many pages can be printed before the toner or ink cartridge becomes empty, and also predicts how much time remains before this toner or ink cartridge becomes empty. This prediction is based upon the previous printing history of the printer while using this particular toner cartridge. After measuring the quantity of toner left in the toner cartridge, the printer of the present invention will display the approximate quantity of toner remaining in the cartridge on a screen of a host computer that is connected to the printer, either directly or through a network. The monitor screen of the host computer can also display the predicted number of pages remaining, based on the printer's previous usage history as described above. The toner measuring device provides a "level change" output signal when the remaining toner passes through a predetermined gradation threshold, and depending upon the size of the toner cartridge and upon the time and date at which the level change was detected, the predicted number of pages remaining and the actual amount of toner remaining are more accurately updated upon reaching one of these predetermined gradation thresholds. As each gradation level transition occurs, the printer calculates a new value for the "pages per gradation" variable, and also calculates the number of pages that have been printed since the latest cartridge was installed in the printer, the number of pages printed since the last level or gradation change, and the number of pages or sheets printed between the last two level changes. The printer also can approximate the amount of toner used in printing a particular page of print media to create a Toner Tally for each printed page, which can be used to judge the amount of toner used for one print job and compare that to the amount of toner used for a second print job. The Toner Tally uses a combination hardware/software counter to count the number of "active" pels of each page for a print job.

公开(公告)号：US5970275A

公开(公告)日：1999-10-19

申请号：US96890

申请日：1998-06-12

申请人： Martin Joseph Brown, Jr. ,  Allen Patrick Johnson ,  Patricia Ann Valenti ,  Earl Dawson Ward, II ,  Timothy Gerard Yorkey

发明人： Martin Joseph Brown, Jr. ,  Allen Patrick Johnson ,  Patricia Ann Valenti ,  Earl Dawson Ward, II ,  Timothy Gerard Yorkey

IPC分类号： B41J29/20 ,  B41J2/175 ,  B41J2/44 ,  B41J29/38 ,  G03G15/00 ,  G03G15/01 ,  G03G15/08 ,  G03G21/00 ,  H04N1/23

CPC分类号： B41J2/17566 ,  G03G15/0856 ,  G03G15/553 ,  G03G15/556 ,  B41J2002/17589

摘要： The amount of toner remaining in each toner cartridge (20a-20d) of a printer (1) is estimated by incrementing a count when one pel is detected in each small region of the bit map. The printer senses toner out, after which the scale ascribed to one count is revised to reflect the actual count to toner out. Specifically, the count to toner out becomes the number representative of empty so that one-half of that count is interpreted as half full. The remaining toner in each cartridge is displayed to the operator at a gauge (21).

摘要翻译： 打印机（1）的每个墨粉盒（20a-20d）中残留的调色剂的量通过在位图的每个小区域中检测到一个像素时增加计数来估计。 打印机感测到墨粉，之后修改了一个计数的刻度，以反映出墨粉的实际计数。 具体来说，调色剂的计数成为空的数字，所以计数的一半被解释为半满。 每个墨盒中的剩余墨粉以仪表（21）显示给操作员。